Drivel. I promise.

This is neat

“That was the setup—and now, thanks to a big collaborative effort, we’ve got a beautiful book full of ideas.

We’ll post a PDF online, free for everyone—but only after we sell this run of 200 real, physical objects. So think of it this way: You’re not just buying a thought-provoking, take-it-to-the-coffee-shop book for yourself. You’re buying access for everybody. You’re a patron of the new liberal arts!

Thank you, kind patrons! You ransomed this book in about eight hours flat.”

They made a book, put out an extremely limited edition of print copies, and when those print copes were gone, they put the book in a PDF and gave it away. That’s interesting to me.

Comments (1)

So, the angle is that they break even or make a small profit on the initial run and then give the rest away? Seems a dubious business decision unless it’s a market-tester or a way to sell future books (assuming the content is earth-shattering).

Of course, there is also a possibility that they are truly altruistic and/or believe in their ideas so much that they feel society deserves the content for free.

I’m always looking for the angle. When Scott Adams put out his book God’s Debris as a pdf, it was because:
1. it was done selling at a regular clip
2. as a freebie it could be used to advertise any additional books he writes
3. he didn’t need the money
4. his ego wanted more people to read it.

Note that #4 comes last.

Still, it’s an interesting marketing idea. I’ll have to think more about it.